French driver Denis Olivet will make the long haul trip to Peru in September to compete for the first time in the 2008 Incas Rally on board a Toyota Corolla N3 class.

The car will be supplied by local driver Paolo Zani, current points’ leader in the N3 category of the 2008 Peruvian Rally Championship.“I feel very happy to give the car to Denis for the Incas Rally and show drivers from other countries the wonderful event that we have,” said Zani.

“Our goal is to give him the best car, reliable and fun to drive. My responsibility is to assist Denis in the best possible way so that he can tell everybody about this great adventure and come back every year.”

Olivet will be co-driven by André Fernandez, both residents of the area of Montpellier on the Mediterranean border of southern France.They started competing in 1981 mainly in events of the French Rally Championship with cars like the Opel Kadett GTE, Renault 11 Turbo and the Renault Clio 165.

Later on, they went to compete in events of the World Rally Championship like Rally Catalunyain 1995 and 1996, and Rally of Portugal in 1996, 1997,1999 and 2000. Since 2000 they have not participated in any other rally event.“Thanks to a paper from Mr. Clément Gaillard in the automobile press we discovered the existence of the Incas Rally, a very long and difficult race which is a real challenge for us!” said Olivet.

“It is the first time we participate in a rally so far from home in a country where we don’t speak the language. We are anxious to compete and the first reward will be to be at the start of the Caminos del Inca 2008!”

Olivet and his crew will arrive in Peru as early as the 31st of August to get used to the country and do reconnaissance of the route prior to the event.

The Incas Rally (11-21 September) is one of the few city to city rallies left in world and has five legs totalling 2,100 kilometres; it starts in Lima and goes through the historic cities of Huancayo, Ayacucho, Cuzco, and Arequipa.